Sunday, July 30, 2006The Eighth Sunday After Pentecost
Dear Centenary Church Family:
On Sunday, July 30, we will gather for Worship and Summer Sunday School at 9:30 AM in our air-conditioned Sanctuary. I will offer a special word with the children, and also share my morning Message, A Boy and His Lunch, based on the miracle story of Jesus’ feeding of the multitudes in the Gospel of John 6:1-21. We will also hear the Epistle reading from Ephesians 3:14-21. For our special music, baritone Lester Gesteland will share Cat Steven’s arrangement of Morning Has Broken, text by Eleanor Farjeon. Our Celebration of Found Coins is designated for the Capital Campaign Fun at Aldersgate Center.
This Sunday, July 30th, immediately following Worship and Fellowship Time, we need volunteers in the Youth Room to sort and size clothing for the ClothesLine Ministry so that they can be loaded onto the bus for an orderly distribution in August. Please consider remaining after church to help with this important mission…and signing up to assist with distribution of the clothing in New Brunswick on August 13th (see The Clothesline article below).
Your help is also needed later in the day this Sunday: ASSISTANCE NEEDED WITH VBS SETUP—SUNDAY, JULY 30TH @ 4:00 PM: Cathy Savoia is seeking persons to be available at 4:00 PM Sunday to help with setting up on the front lawn and in the Sanctuary for Vacation Bible School. If you can help out, it would be deeply appreciated.
“FIESTA”—Vacation Bible School—July 31 to August 4, 2006
“FIESTA” will be held Monday, July 31 through Friday, August 4, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and includes Hot Bible Adventures, Chadder’s Drive-in Theater, Cactus Crafts and Missions, Maraca Munchies, Grande Games, and Sing and Play Ole’. The program will be offered in English and in Spanish. Our FIESTA Finale will be on Friday, August 4th at Noon. Child Care will be provided for younger children, age 1 through 3 years old. Registration is $12.00 per child; $30 per family of 3 or more. For more information and registration forms please speak with or call Cathy Savoia at 732-826-1921.
THE CLOTHESLINE
August is here again—Centenary’s opportunity to assist some very needy mean, women and children of our community by giving our clothing and our time. Sunday, July 30, immediately following Worship and Fellowship Time, we need volunteers in the Youth Room to sort and size each item so that they can be loaded onto the bus for an orderly distribution.
On Sunday, August 13th (2:00-4:00 PM) we will be at Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen, 18 Neilson Street in New Brunswick, distributing clothing from The ClothesLine, our old school bus/mobile closet. Sign-up sheets are in the Narthex for the August 13th distribution at the Soup Kitchen. PLEASE! PLEASE!! Many, many people are depending on us… Thank you, Tookie Bacon
Ozanam Shelter Dinner on August 7th: Centenary will be serving dinner at the Ozanam Shelter on Monday, August 7th. Please check the information on the bulletin board in the Narthex and sign up to assist with food preparation or serving. For further information, please contact Glenna Gundell (732-463-1431) or Mary Ellen Heim (732-548-2587). Thanks.
Refreshments: Persons are needed to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshments following our Sunday Worship services. Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of the available weeks in August on the 2006 Refreshment Chart in the Narthex. Information on what you need to provide is available from Pastor Painter or by speaking with Millie Pleuler (732-750-4434). Thank you for providing hospitality on a Sunday morning.
Offering Envelopes: Please faithfully use your offering envelopes all summer, and every possible opportunity to help with the progress our Church is making. God is good to us, and one by one we can make a difference in sharing the gospel story, if we work together in the days ahead. Thank you all in the name of Jesus Christ for making ministry possible.
Assistant Pastor Terrilisa Durham Bauknight has moved. Until January 2007, her mailing address will remain as follows: The Rev. Terrilisa Durham Bauknight, PO Box 1561, Cranford, New Jersey 07016-5561. Her phone is 908-419-4101.
Some Thoughts for This Week:
Christians do not need to consult their bank balances to see how wealthy they are.
A bone of contention has no place in the body of Christ.
So often we try to alter circumstances to suit ourselves,
Instead of letting them alter us, which is what they are meant to do.
- Mother Maribel
Be what you wish others to become. – Henri Frederic Amiel
We are never more like God than when we give of ourselves.
A fanatic is a person who does what he thinks the Lord would do If only He knew the facts of the case. – Finley Peter Dunne
Love your enemies,
For they tell you your faults. – Benjamin Franklin
In God’s holy flirtation with the world, God occasionally drops a handkerchief. These handkerchiefs are called saints. – Frederic Buechner [Adapted]
We are wonderful, breathing instruments of music, formed by God in his own image. – Clement of Alexandria [adapted]
If you never make a mistake, you may live and die without anyone ever noticing you.
God often entrusts us with a little to see what we could do with a lot.
Sermons “Podcast” on Our Web Site: In addition to being available in print, the Pastors’ weekly sermons are now available as a “podcast” on our Web site. You may listen to each Message as it was delivered in Worship Service. Go to www.CentenaryUMCnj.org to explore this and other new features and links. Our thanks to Web servant Ernie Agtarap for providing this on-line ministry of Centenary.
Shalom, John